The number 2 Texas Longhorns convincingly won 56-7 against the UTSA Roadrunners on Saturday evening in Austin.

If you were worried that Texas might be underwhelming after the win in Ann Arbor, you were quickly put to rest. Until quarterback Quinn Ewers had to be helped to the sideline and held for the rest of the game.

That was certainly the biggest story of the night, considering how well Ewers has played this season, but his departure opened the door wide for backup quarterback Arch Manning to light up the Roadrunners and steal the night’s headlines. We all knew we’d see Manning in action on Saturday, but no one expected it to be due to an injury to Ewers.

Aside from the Ewers news, there wasn’t much to be upset about after the game. It certainly wasn’t a perfect performance, but I’m sure the coaching staff is okay with that because it gives them something to harp on about to keep the team focused heading into next week.

With that said, let’s take a look at the Roadrunners’ dominance on Saturday.

Quinn Ewers is bitten by the injury bug

I touched on this briefly in the intro, so we might as well get started on it, because it will likely be the biggest topic discussed for the next week or so. Ewers had gotten off to a hot start, throwing two touchdowns (while also throwing an interception on a bad check down) before he went to the field and had to be helped to the medical tent.

Whatever was discovered during that evaluation led to a fairly quick decision to send Ewers to the locker room and return to street clothes, indicating that it would be Manning’s show for the rest of the way. Sarkisian told the broadcast at halftime that the diagnosis was a tight abdomen and didn’t give much more at that point. The best case scenario is that Texas was cautious with their QB1, as he wasn’t really needed for extended play given the opponent and you had a very capable QB2 in Manning.

Ewers definitely seemed to be in some discomfort on his last drive of action. You hope it’s not something that will last long, but there’s no telling how serious it is at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Texas plays it cautiously over the next two weeks with their schedule to make sure Ewers is ready for the game in Dallas against Oklahoma.

Arch Manning had a coming out party

Enjoy your night, Archibald!

While it was certainly a bummer that Ewers took a dent, the other side of the equation was that Manning really looked the part in his first extended outing on Saturday. Manning showed us a little bit of everything during his stint on Saturday, including showing off the wheels he undoubtedly inherited from his grandfather.

It still baffles me that a quarterback with the last name Manning can run that fast. Every time you go over 20 mph, you’re in motion and you see Manning tearing away at defenders on that run. When you see that kind of athleticism on that run, combined with the arm talent he continues to display, you can see why he more than earned that lofty five-star rating coming out of high school.

Yes, UTSA isn’t a great team, but seeing Ewers go down and Manning put on this kind of performance has the burnt orange fanbase fired up. This was an extensive look into the future when Manning is ready to take over the reins in 2025. It also shows everyone that Texas has a more than capable backup should he get drafted in 2024.

Lukewarm Opinion: Jerrick Gibson Needs More Ball Possession

When it was announced that Jaydon Blue would be out on Saturday, I was curious to see what Quintrevion Wisner and Jerrick Gibson would do with their opportunities to get more touches. I’ve liked what they’ve both shown when they’ve come into the game so far this season when they’ve faced Blue in the backfield, but I’ve said since the Colorado State game that I really like how Gibson carries the pill.

Ever since I saw Gibson look like that at the beginning of camp, I started wondering if he was going to be the guy to use in short-yardage, goal-line packages. After seeing how hard he runs and how he finishes his runs, I felt even better about that becoming a reality. The broadcast on Saturday said he’s known as Baby Rhino to his teammates, and I think that might be starting to bother me.

Wisner got the start Saturday, but it didn’t take long for Gibson to get the bulk of the carries, with 13 to Wisner’s four. Even when he recorded his first fumble of the season, he was immediately put back in the lineup in place of Wisner, who took a slight hit but could have returned to the game if needed, according to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.

As long as Gibson can hold up in pass protection, I think he’ll make his case for an expanded role behind Blue in the future. He’s been productive every week and continues to look like a future RB1.

Texas’ overall team depth was clearly visible

One of the biggest things that separates the good teams from the rest of the pack is having good, quality depth. After three games, it’s clear to me that Texas is one of those teams that has the privilege of having good, quality depth, and that was on display early and often on Saturday.

UTSA was never going to be able to match Texas, but you could see Texas move guys early and often and they were still able to perform at a high level. Look no further than Manning replacing Ewers for extended action. Or how about guys like Gibson and Wisner filling in with Blue out for the day? How about guys like Colton Vasek and Ty’Anthony Smith making blistering plays in the second half?

When you watch Texas play, the list of contributors grows very quickly week in and week out and it’s truly a testament to the work Sarkisian and his staff have done to rebuild this roster. They’ve raised both the ceiling and the floor of the program and while it’s too early to talk about next year, you can get a glimpse of the future when you watch some of the young pups contribute there.

Despite the eruption, there are still things to clean up

These are more or less quibbles for me, but I think they are worth bringing up.

Texas dominated this game from start to finish, but there were definitely a few things that will be emphasized by the coaching staff to keep their players sharp and hungry. A few things that stood out were the quarterback decision-making (Ewers picking and Arch holding the ball, which resulted in a sack), run passes (the only UTSA score came from linebacker David Gbenda being a step too slow to reach his gap), and money-down efficiency.

Let’s start with the quarterbacks. The pick Ewers threw was the result of his mechanics breaking down a bit and him mailing a pass intended for Wisner through the air on a check down. One of the criticisms of Ewers in the past is that he sometimes lets his fundamentals, usually his footwork, get out of the way, resulting in errant throws.

As for Arch, he’ll likely be reminded to speed up his internal clock a bit when defenses press with more blitzers than blockers. That free-roaming defender was his to deal with, so he either has to get dirty or he has to get out of the pocket and throw it away.

Run fits were a major problem for the defense at times last year, but they’ve been much better so far this year. Before UTSA’s explosive run play, Texas hadn’t allowed a run of more than 13 yards. Gbenda in particular had been playing well early in the year, so I expect Johnny Nansen to use his position group pretty hard this week and hit some home run fits.

Finally, Texas took a step back in money-down efficiency this week after brutalizing Colorado State and Michigan the previous two weeks. It didn’t really hurt them this week because they were able to produce so many explosive plays throughout the game, but they’ll need to make sure they clean that up heading into next week.

3-0

There’s nothing like dropping a 50 burger for the home crowd. I also want to point out that I almost made the final score in the round table. I had Texas winning 56-6 on Saturday. Sooooo close.

Saturday was a lot of fun to watch. It was definitely a tough night for the people who spent a lot of time saying Arch Manning was overrated.

The 24 hour rule is now in effect, then it’s time for ULM and to focus on becoming 4-0.